Zach Johnson fends off former middle school math teacher for PGA Tour Champions win
It almost didn't seem like a fair fight: a two-time major champion squaring off against a former middle school teacher. But that's the beauty of pro golf and those Monday qualifiers.
The major winner was Zach Johnson, a PGA Tour Champions rookie who's taking the circuit by storm in 2026. The ex-teacher is Jay Jurecic, 56, who hails from Michigan. In just his fourth senior start, and 10th senior round overall, he shot 65 at Minnehaha Country Club on Saturday in South Dakota to share the 36-hole lead at the Sanford International with Johnson.
Sunday, after opening with a birdie to continue this "what if" story, the dream slowly faded. Jurecic parred his next six holes before a bogey at No. 8. Three more pars were followed by yet another bogey.
As he basically stagnated in the final round – Jurecic closed out his 1-over round of 71 with six straight pars – others made their moves, in particular Johnson, who shot 66 to win at 11 under, one shot better than Ben Crane, who also shot 66.
Still, it was more good experience for Jurecic as well as a $63,067 payday. Considered it some lessons learned for the former teacher, who finished tied for eighth at 6 under.
“That was probably the best feeling in golf I’ve had with the grandstands and to make that putt and finish strong like that was just a dream come true,” he said after his round Saturday. He was seeking to be the first Monday qualifier to win on the tour since Tommy Gainey at the 2025 Constellation Furyk & Friends.
As for that teaching career, Jurecic taught middle school math for 21 years at West Iron County Public Schools in Iron County, Michigan, a town of 11,000, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He would spend his summers playing state opens and mini tour events. He resigned from his job at age 51 to chase his competitive pro golf dream. This after having never played high school or college golf.
As for Johnson, his fifth win was good for $330,000 and takes him to just shy of $3 million in earnings on the season. He's now tied with circuit wins leader Stewart Cink. Johnson's wins have come in 13 starts, including winning his Champions debut in March, while Cink's five wins have come in 15 starts. Cink and Johnson are also 1-2 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
Cink and Johnson are also both chasing the Champions rookie win mark of seven, set by Bruce Fleisher in 1999. There are now seven events left in the 2026 season, including the three playoff events.
